10 Most Chilling Star Trek Moments
5. I Did What Had To Be Done
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was unusual in many ways for Trek at the time. With no disrespect intended to any of the iterations, the debut years of most of the shows suffered from mixed tones, shaky acting, and a general 'finding our feet' feeling. DS9 came out of the paddock with all thrusters blasting, though never is this more apparent than in Duet.
Harris Yulin guests as the Cardassian Amin Maritza, who has been surgically altered to resemble the war criminal Gul Darheel. He is arrested and, before his true identity is exposed, he proceeds to deliver one of the most impactful monologues from any guest of the Station.
Kira confronts him, laying Darheel's crimes bare. Rather than shy from them, the man erupts into an impassioned speech about the things 'he' did during the Occupation. Specifically, he states that each night, he would order his men to go out and kill Bajoran scum. They would come back covered in blood, but they felt clean. Because they were clean, he insists. Kira backs away, horrified by what she hears.
Though the true motives behind Maritza's impersonation come to light later, this exchange, from the first year of a new show, told audiences exactly what to expect from Star Trek's grunge phase.